If Wolverine had a moment to think, he might have laughed at the apparent joke that was being played on him. He might have raised a puzzled eyebrow up at Scott in the audience. He might have given his opponent a better looking-over….she sure did smell awful. Despite his pride, he may have even backed out of the match, if they'd let him…no way he was roughing up such a little kid—it just wasn't right.
But he didn't have a moment to think. The child had stepped into the ring and immediately charged forward. Wolverine tightened in anticipation of her impact, though he imagined it couldn't have been very heavy---and found himself flying forward, directly towards the wall. In the blink of an eye, the Pit Bull had flipped acrobatically overhead, landed behind him, and sent him crashing into the wall with a kick that felt very much like a car hitting him.
The crowd exploded.
"BOOO!"
"SHOW THAT LITTLE FREAK WHAT'S WHAT!"
"THIS FUCKER'S RIGGED!"
"STEP IT UP, MAN!"
Wolverine whipped around without shaking off the shock of impact, in time to catch a blinding blow across his face.
"Ooo!" The audience reacted sympathetically, Scott included. Wolverine was still on his feet. He caught the child's arm as she swung it back towards his face, but the girl nevertheless struck him in the stomach with her other fist. Wolverine gasped instinctively as the wind was nearly knocked out of him. Simultaneously twisting her body within Wolverine's grasp, the Pit Bull whipped her leg under Wolverine, taking the X-man's feet out from beneath him. No sooner was he on the ground when he again felt himself whipped across the ring into another wall. This time, some of the cement crumbled and he left a dent.
"THE CHALLENGER IS DOWN!" Howled the loudspeakers. "BUT NOT OUT!"
Taking the announcement as a cue, spectators began chucking things at the Pit Bull, throwing rocks from the barrels, crumpled papers from their pockets, whatever else was available. The girl batted a few of the projectiles away, but could not anticipate the directions from which an object would be thrown, and buckled slightly as more and more solid objects struck her arms and legs. She glowered upward and bared her teeth angrily, but this only seemed to encourage the crowd to throw more.
Wolverine took the opportunity to hoist himself to his feet, fury flashing across his features.
"'Down,' am I?" he fumed under his breath, regaining his balance and taking a solid stance. He could feel the fury rising like a tidal wave within himself, and he fought it. He had to stay in control, this was supposed to be---well, it wasn't supposed to be anything like what was happening, that was for sure! The Pit Bull scowled glacially at him from across the ring, still distracted by rocks and trash falling upon her. For the first time Wolverine noticed the collar encircling her neck, the bandages on her wrists, the reddening of new welts, the yellow and purple spotting her face, the smell of her blood speckled somewhere in the ring. Something inside Wolverine snapped, and he could feel his rage overflowing all over the ring.
SNIKT!"Oh, crap." Scott muttered, as the spectators around him released exclamations of shock, annoyance, and dismay. A few began readjusted their projectile aim for Wolverine himself, who promptly shredded all of it in midair.
"HE'S A BLOODY MUTIE!"
"BOOO!"
"FUCKING TAKE 'EM BOTH DOWN!"
"FIGHT ON," The loudspeaker called out, the announcer's tone suddenly deadpan. "PIT BULL," it added, to which the girl looked up at Teake. "TO THE DEATH."
The crowd applauded in approval. Scott felt his face burning. Nobody cares, he thought bitterly, Because either way it'll be a mutant life. The child turned her head slowly back to Wolverine and the scowl etched on her face drained away, leaving a deadly, blank expression.
Scott began to feel the beginnings of real panic fluttering in his chest. He tore his gaze from the pit in time to see Teake cover the microphone and lean back to heatedly discuss something to a suit behind his bodyguards.
"Oh, crap," he repeated.
The Pit Bull had regained her composure. She caught a rock in midair and whipped it at Wolverine. His senses were razor-ready. He ducked the rock and leapt at the Pit Bull, who ran up the wall and then along the wall's curve as simply as if it had been a floor. The girl dropped back into the sand opposite Wolverine, who tucked and rolled up into a ready position on his knees. The audience roared wildly and money flew from hand to hand, faster than ever.
Wolverine leapt again, more nimbly this time. The Pit Bull threw herself on the ground and defiantly deflected Wolverine's grasp with her arms and legs. Wolverine still managed to grasp the child's shoulder when he landed, and they rolled clumsily into the wall where Wolverine's claws temporarily embedded themselves in the surface…trapping the child face-to-face with him, the Pit Bull's back pinned to the wall.
"Stop fucking around and kill me!" The girl hissed harshly into Wolverine's face, and using both hands, ripped Wolverine's right arm from the wall, twisting it painfully upside-down.
Overhead, Teake turned to leave, but Cyclops was already moving towards him. He forced himself to stop concentrating on the disaster unfolding below him and push through the screaming fury surrounding the pit. He wasn't so sure he even wanted to watch, really. It was sick. This was entirely Wolverine's fault. They'd been sent to identify the crime lords responsible for this vile organization…this whole escapade was supposed to be a recon mission, not a barbaric free-for-all.
"Maybe the professor will finally expel him," Scott muttered to himself and immediately regretted it. Expulsion or no, things had spun completely out of control and someone was probably going to die. Even worse, that someone was either be an X-Man or a little girl.
A death under your leadership on a stupid, simple intel op, Scott grimaced, Way to fucking go, genius.
Ahead, Solomon Teake pushed his way through a black door at the back of the room.
It was disgusting. It was perverted. It was…painful. Wolverine struggled to prevent his instincts from taking over completely. This kid could hit, and hit damned hard. In his state Wolverine had already forgotten himself several times, and the girl had a three claw-length gashes through her faded shirt and stretched across her shoulder blade to show for it. He hadn't meant to---it was instinct.
Where the hell is Scott, that idiot---WHAM. A foot in his knee nearly bent it backwards. His healing abilities were definitely helping, but how much longer before they became starkly obvious to the audience…to the Pit Bull? He swung a hand and slammed her in the side. A sickening snapping beneath his fist, like twiggy tree branches. She staggered but caught his arm in her teeth…and bit hard.
Fuck. SHIT. What the hell do I do. What the hell--- A bolt of pain rocketed up his arm as the Pit Bull tore away some of his flesh with her teeth. Instinctively he brought his hand down on her head, above her eye. A brief thought of the soft spot on babies' skulls crossed his mind. He stifled a gag of disgust. The force of his blow sent the girl crashing to the ground, where she rolled onto her back and desperately threw her balled fists into Wolverine's loins as if they had been a volleyball.
"URK!" Wolverine crumpled over her. "Low blow, kid…"
The Pit Bull grasped Wolverine's fists with her bandaged hands. Using him as leverage, she spun herself around and flipped him over, landing atop his chest.
"Do it now!" She gasped at him, his wrists in her hands, his claws extended past her ears. "Kill me now! Do it!"
"I ain't trying to hurt you, kid! Are you fucking crazy, or---" Wolverine didn't even finish. In one deft move, Pit Bull twisted his arms around and ground his claws into his own throat.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her bitter gray eyes softening. Wolverine could see red bruises swelling her cheeks, hot blood spilling from her temple, gashes, bruises, pain etched everywhere. Then he could see nothing, for it all went black.
